1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to telecommunication and in particular to directory assistance services in a public telephone network. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for automatically providing to a switch at a public telephone network the billing identifier of a customer to which a directory assistance call extension should be attributed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, telephone companies have offered directory assistance services that provide a caller with the telephone number of a telephone customer. Typically, the caller initiates a directory assistance call by dialing a specified telephone number (e.g., NPA-555-1212, 1411, 411, or 101xxxx). The directory assistance operator or automated directory assistance system answering the directory assistance call may first request that the caller provide the locality of the customer for which a listing is desired. If listings for the requested locality are not maintained by that directory assistance center, the caller may be referred to a different directory assistance telephone number handling listings for the requested locality. If, on the other hand, the directory assistance center contacted by the caller handles listings for the requested locality, the directory assistance operator or automated directory assistance system searches the directory database for a listing corresponding the customer, and if the customer""s telephone number is contained in the database and is not unlisted, provides the customer""s number to the caller, typically in an audio announcement.
Until recently, the caller would have to write down (or memorize) the customer""s telephone number, hang up, again go off-hook, and then dial the telephone customer""s number. This procedure is inconvenient to the caller and can even be dangerous in certain situations, for example, if the caller is making the directory assistance call from a wireless telephone in a moving automobile. Thus, in order to provide enhanced directory assistance service to callers, the directory assistance centers of many telephone companies now offer the caller the option of having the directory assistance center complete a call to the customer automatically, often for a nominal fee. If the caller requests that the call be completed automatically, for example, by dialing xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d, the directory assistance center originates a second call (hereinafter referred to as an extension call) to the requested telephone number via the switch through which the directory assistance center is coupled to the public telephone network.
The present invention recognizes that although the automatic completion of a call to a customer by directory assistance is a great convenience to the caller, the handling of the directory assistance center""s automatically-dialed extension call can create difficulties for telephone companies. For example, local exchange carriers (LECs) typically do not have a directory assistance center located within each local service area (e.g., LATA (Local Access and Transport Area)) to which they provide service, but instead provide directory assistance services through regional directory assistance centers accessible to a number of local service areas through a TOPS (Traffic Operator Position System). If a customer served by a LEC dials the local directory assistance access number (e.g., 411), the directory assistance call will be routed through the switch of the local service provider over a long-haul line to the TOPS and from there to the regional directory assistance center. If the user then requests that directory assistance automatically complete the call to the requested number, the extension call will originate at the regional directory assistance center, return to the LEC via a second long-haul connection, and then be completed via the LEC to the customer premises. This series of connections will remain active for the duration of the extension call. As should thus be apparent, offering customers the option of automatic completion of local directory assistance calls is expensive and requires significant long-haul bandwidth to the regional directory assistance center in that each directory assistance call for which an extension call is made requires two separate long-haul connections.
Similarly, if a customer dials long distance directory assistance (e.g., by dialing NPA-555-1212), the inter-exchange carrier (IC) handling the call will route the call through at least one switch to a directory assistance center. If the user then requests that the directory assistance center complete the call to the requested number, the directory assistance center will originate a second call through the switch of the IC to the requested number. Because the extension call is originated by the directory assistance center and not from the caller""s premises, the billing identifier (e.g., ANI (Automatic Number Identification)) of the caller will not be sent to the IC""s switch in conjunction with the extension call. Thus, absent the present invention, the IC has no easy mechanism for associating long distance per-minute charges, taxes, and other expenses of extension calls to the billing identifier of the originating callers as with other long distance calls. Instead, the IC must rely on billing information provided by the directory assistance center, which may be of a different format than ordinarily used by the IC. It would therefore be desirable for the IC to be able to automatically attribute charges for extension calls with the billing identifiers of callers requesting them.
Similarly, for wireless directory assistance, extension calls originated by the directory assistance center do not provide the billing identifier of the wireless caller to the switch of the wireless service provider, meaning that the wireless service provider does not itself have a mechanism for automatically associating the call length and roaming and long distance charges (if applicable) with the caller""s billing identifier.
In accordance with the present invention, these and other shortcomings of conventional directory assistance provision are overcome by a method and system for automatically supplying customer billing identifier, such as an ANI, to a switch in a public telephone network in conjunction with an extension call. A telephone network capable of handling directory assistance calls according to the present invention may include a switch, connection circuitry coupled between the switch and a directory assistance center, and call origination circuitry. In response to receipt of a incoming directory assistance call from the switch, the connection circuitry connects the incoming directory assistance call to the directory assistance center. Then, following receipt of a requested telephone number from the directory assistance center, the call origination circuitry originates an extension call to the requested telephone number on the public telephone network and transmits, in conjunction with the extension call, at least a billing identifier captured from the incoming directory assistance call. In this manner, the switch of the telephone network is able to automatically associate the extension call with the billing identifier captured from the incoming directory assistance call.
All objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.